Years Ago

Today is Sunday, Nov. 13, the 317th day of 2011. There are 48 days left in the year.

VINDICATOR FILES

On this date in:

1909: Two hundred and fifty-nine men and boys are killed when fire erupts inside a coal mine in Cherry, Ill.

1911: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that an unauthorized motion picture adaptation of the novel “Ben-Hur” by General Lew Wallace infringes on the book’s copyright.

1940: The Walt Disney animated movie “Fantasia” has its world premiere in New York.

1956: The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down laws calling for racial segregation on public city and state buses.

1969: Speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew accuses network television news departments of bias and distortion, and urges viewers to lodge complaints.

1982: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated on the National Mall in Washington.

VINDICATOR FILES

1986:Youngstown lawmakers say Mayor Patrick Ungaro has his priorities confused with a proposal that the city subsidize downtown fa ßade renovations while placing a moratorium on new streetlights.

Speaking at a Trumbull Town Hall at Packard Music Hall, advice columnist Abigail Van Buren says she provides snappy answers in her newspaper advice column “Dear Abby,” but bases her column on common sense.

1971: Warren Harding stakes claim to the mythical state football Class AAA championship, completing the school’s first perfect season with a 27-0 romp over Niles McKinley before a crowd of over 16,000 at Riverside Stadium.

Managers of five Boardman food markets plead innocent in Boardman Court to violating Ohio’s Sunday-closing law. Police Chief Dan Maggianetti said the managers were arrested on the basis of complaints and a call by the Boardman Ministerial Association to enforce the law.

1961: Thirteen citations for gambling violations are issued by state agents to two Youngstown taverns, the Blue Jay Inn on Rigby Street and the Army-Navy Garrison on Belle Vista Ave.

Joe Russo makes good on an election day bet, turning over his 5-year-old race horse, Miss Pro, to Fred Beshara. Russo bet the horse against $2,500 that Mayor Frank R. Franko would be re-elected.

1936: Two armed thugs kidnap Dr. J.L. Fisher in his own car, then force him out at gunpoint on Youngstown’s North Side, where they rob grocer Sol Myers. They flee on foot after being unable to restart the physician’s car.

Mary Anderson of 212 E. Pasadena Ave. is the first person to take a driver’s test in Youngstown, scoring a perfect grade in each of the four parts administrated by Traffic Officer Ted Hite. People who are under 18 years old, have been driving for less than a year or have a physical disability that might interfere with safe driving, must take the test and be licensed.